Future Federation Working Group

Dear Colleague / Member:

As you know, in January 2015, the Canadian Library Association’s Executive Council initiated a dialogue with colleagues from diverse representative library associations to discuss the future of a unified national voice for Canadian libraries.

The need for work on a new approach has been evident for a number of years. Rather than continuing to try to tweak an increasingly weakening association structure, the library association representatives agreed to work together to contemplate a new way forward for the Canadian library community – one which would leverage the combined membership strength of the many library associations in Canada, would create new opportunities for individuals in the library community to have their voices heard at a national level, and would reinforce collaboration amongst the various library associations rather than compete with them.

For the last 11 months, facilitated by the Canadian Library Association, a working group comprised of representatives from the provincial, territorial, and national associations has been meeting to contemplate a new form for our sectors’ national library association.

Attached to this cover letter is the final proposal arising from this effort, entitled Toward a Federation of Library Associations in Canada: Strengthening the National Voice for Canadian Libraries, Final Proposal. We ask you to review the proposal in detail, from the first section through to the appendices where the context for this initiative is provided.

Doing nothing is not an option if we want to have a strong national voice for libraries.

At the end of January, CLA will ask its members to participate in an historic vote: a vote to endorse this proposal by agreeing to dissolve the Canadian Library Association to make way for a new federation that unities, supports, and represents the diverse library communities that make up this country’s library ecosystem.

We, the Working Group, are optimistic that a truly national voice for libraries – one that embraces a broader range of colleagues across the country and strengthens the community – is within our grasp. We hope you are as optimistic and excited about this vision for the future as we are.

The Future Federation Working Group